Developing
by Headfirstforhaloween
Summary: Melody and Sam are finally leaving the awful town where no one cared about them. The two friends, basically siblings, are on a road trip to find somewhere. Where that is, they don't know. Somewhere where they can be accepted for their love for computers, game design, and electronics. Two nerds looking for anything to call a home. Will they make it, or have to turn around in defeat?


I guess it might have been a bad idea to just disappear like that.

But hey. I'm an unstable teenager. Fite me.

Besides, it's not like many people would miss me. Sam would, but he of all people would understand. The past few months have been insanely difficult for me; I was bound to break down at some point.

But thankfully, I don't have to worry about Sam anyway. In fact, he's encouraging me to leave. Its senior year, and all my friends are gone and graduated. Sam and my small group of friends are all a year older than me, so this year I was left all alone.

I had been used to being the loner before I moved here. I was basically mute, had no fiends, and kept to myself. But when I moved here, I met Sam. He took the shell I was hiding and pulled me out of it, showing me it's ok to open up to people.

Everyone thinks that we either are dating, or will end up together. Even when he was dating Jazmin, everyone would joke about me and Sam. And yea, the two of us were close. He was the reason I was alive, he'd saved me from myself on many occasions. He would distract me by talking about music, or books, or the game we were developing.

Through my sophomore and junior year, the two of us had made a couple of simple games. We actually had made decent profits and had a small fan base, considering we were a pair of teens with no prior idea of what they were doing.

When we were designing games, it's like nothing else mattered. We could create our own worlds, universes, for people to go to escape the hell that is this life.

But now, it's senior year. Me and Sam had been planning this year since we started the first game. We'd move to California, find an apartment, and continue making games. If we had enough of a fan base and potential, Sam said he'd be ok with me dropping out. It's not like I needed senior year, I wasn't planning on going to college or finishing school. What was the point anyway?

We've been in school for a couple of weeks now. I know that my parents wouldn't agree with me dropping out; I was their oldest child, the star kid who they hated because she didn't get straight A's. They wanted me to get into some prestigious college and become a doctor or some shit; not happening. They treated me like an animal; I was basically raising myself since I was 12.

So me and Sam had to plan. We couldn't just disappear without a plan. Sam and I had both been saving up money, and together we had enough to live off of for long enough for us to find another income once we leave. We were going to leave tonight, and start driving towards the coast.

Before we left, I had to go and pick up my last paycheck. I worked at a local game store called Legacy Games; it was a locally owned small business, and it felt like more of a home than my own house did. The owner, Dan, was the coolest guy I knew. He gave me the job when I was 14, and I'd had it for 3 years now. This was the only thing I would miss about this place, and I would miss it a lot.

I biked up to the store after school, parked my bike, and walked in. The doorbell dinged and Dan looked up from behind the counter, and my coworker Henry stood up and smiled.

"Here to pick up your check?" Henry asked and I nodded. He opened the register and grabbed the check. He took it out of the envelope to check the amount and gasped.

"What's wrong Henry?" I asked.

"This is a big check! Dan, you sure this is right?" Dan walked over and looked at the check.

"Yea, that's right. Melody's came in every day the past two weeks for almost 8 hours a day. Even more on the weekends."

"Saving up for something?" Henry asked me.

"Kind of... It's a long story."

"Then it's a good thing the store isn't busy today." Henry pulled up a chair and sat down, motioning for me to do the same.

I told him about Sam and my plan. I told him why, and about the games we had made, about my parents, and everything. When I finished, Henry stayed silent. Then he stood up, walked over to me, and gave me a hug.

"I'm gonna miss seeing you here." He said. I hugged him back, and soon Dan joined in and we stood like that for what felt like forever. We broke the embrace, and Henry looked to Dan.

"Did you know?" Dan nodded.

"That's why I was okay with her working so much over time. I usually can't spare the cash, but this time I think I can make an exception."

A costumer walked in and Dan went to help them. Me and Henry sat in a comfortable silence, each lost in our own worlds. Henry soon broke the silence.

"We'll I can't let you go without a goodbye present. I'll be right back." He stood up and went into the staff room. He returned a couple of minutes later with a small duffel bag.

"I want you to have this. So you won't forget us, and have something to do on the car ride."

I looked into the bag and saw a couple of older handheld game consoles. I pulled out an old game boy, and smiled at the "HENRY'S - DON'T TOUCH" written in a child's handwriting.

"I've had that since I was young. But I don't use them anymore, and I know you've wanted one for a while. And if you guys are ever tight on cash, there are a few games in the other pocket that are work at least one hundred a piece."

I felt a small tear fall from my eye. "Henry, I can't take these..."

"No- none of that sappy stuff. You're taking them, and you're not changing my mind." He smiled. "I don't want you to forget us."

"I could never forget you guys. You're the closest thing I have to family, and I promise to call and text you."

"Don't forget about the games you make. I want to play all of them. Send me the links when you get a chance, alright?" I nodded and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 11:14pm; Sam was gonna pick me up at 11:45, once my parents were in bed. I already had my bag packed, all I had to do is cash in this check and wait.

"I should head home. Sam's going to be there soon..."

"Yes you should." Dan said as he walked over to us. "And I want you to remember, if something happens, call me up and I'll be there as soon as physically possible."

"I know you will," I said with a smile. Dan was more of a father than my own dad, which wasn't that difficult.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked around the store one last time. "I really am going to miss it here," I said. I shook my head and walked out the door before I could get too emotional.

I hopped on my bike and rode it to the bank as quickly as possible. My wallet felt a lot heavier with more than 900 dollars in it, and I had more at home. I wasn't going to be keeping all my cash on me at one time.

I looked at my watch any saw that it was 11:35pm. I had to hurry and get all of my stuff. Running down to my room I changed into some comfier clothes, and grabbed my belongings.

It's not like I had a lot in the first place. I only had one suitcase with my clothes, a small bag with makeup, and a bag of entertainment. It had my favorite books, some sketchbooks, and drawing supplies. I brought these all out of my room and placed them next to the door and placed Henry's bag by them.

The last thing I needed was my computer. While it seems like it would be a waste of space, it was one of the most important things for me to bring. Sam and I both would need a computer for game designing, and we don't have the money to buy new ones.

Besides, these computers are special. We made them together, bought the parts and attempted to put them together without breaking anything. Sam named his R2, and in honor of our twinning computers I named mine D2. Our computers were the link into everything we needed and held such good memories that there was no way we would leave them behind.

I grabbed the box I had put my computer and it's accessories in and brought it to the front just as I saw Sam pull up across the street, as to not wake my parents by pulling in to our driveway.

I ran out and gave Sam a hug; I hadn't been able to see him since school started, and it was nice to see his dorky face again.

"Hey Melodia. Ready for an adventure?"


End file.
